I think its unfair to judge them both collectively because Kakko I have some concerns, Laf I'm not at all. Poll would be better with the two separated.
I agree. If those high end picks don’t score 60-100 points in the near future (next 1-3 years) they can definitely be considered busts. You don’t pick #2/4 overall for a 30-45 point playerIf you told a Ranger fan that by 22 (a couple weeks till 23) they'd be a 0.4 ppg player they should be very concerned.
I don't understand why Rangers fans make threads like this that only help give a bad reputation to our players.
Do you seriously believe most people answering this question have watched these players more than 2-3 times this season? You can only get a small snapshot of a player's game and development that way, so any analysis would be largely stats based or based on watching a very small sample size of games.
I'm not saying the answer to the question is don't worry at all. But what are you going to learn airing out your grievances about our development of these prospects on the main boards?
He's out now. Got injured last night. But yes, he's been playing pretty well the second half of the season. Worth the contract? No, it's a really big contract/cap hit, but he's been very solid the second half.Did Trouba suddenly get better recently and worth the contract he signed?
Did Trouba suddenly get better recently and worth the contract he signed?
We have to give their minutes to Colin Backwell and Chris Kreider who hasn't been effective since his injury in late 18-19.Fire Quinn. He's consistently done a poor job acclimating young forwards.
I think the expectations on top 5 picks got a bit skewed due to have a 15 year stretch that had Crosby/Ovy/McDavid
Even guys like Mackinnon/Stamkos/Seguin had average stats in their first year, or some like Draisaitl had pretty poor first season.
I do think these guys will be good, but 1 is probably going to be closer to a RNH level player, and one could be a Hall level player. Not every #1 pick turns into a stud
I'm not concerned this year with Kakko. Production isn't there, but his overall game is a complete 180 from last season. He's great on the boards. He's forechecking, back-checking, and creating a lot of turnovers. If Kakko can take this 2-way game and bring production in the O-zone next season, I'll be quite happy. If we're not seeing any production next season, yeah, i'll be concerned.
This is our current coaching strategy. When things are going right, put Blackwell in the top 6, when something goes wrong, bump him down and start rotating a winger on the Panarin-Strome line. As soon as any momentum is gained, push Blackwell back into that top 6 spot. The second unit gets anywhere from 15-30 seconds of PP time, and most of that is spent trying to enter the zone. It's hard to gain any confidence when you don't even touch the puck.
With Lafreniere, you can see the talent when the puck is on his stick, but he's forcing passes trying to make plays that aren't there. Awareness needs to be better in his own end when they take the puck away and he attempt breaking out. And the skating.... just wow. Lafreniere takes the first few strides like he has clown feet. There needs to be a big improvement in that area and that should help him not be a step behind the play.
I also don't see Chytil lasting as a center in the NHL. When and if he's traded, I see him being pushed on the wing.
DQ is the problem, no doubt in my mind